The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has dissociated itself from the unveiling of the vice-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Sen. Kashim Shettima, saying those presented as church leaders were “unknown clerics”.
CAN said the clerics at the unveiling of Shettima in Abuja on Wednesday were hired to impersonate its leadership.
The association made this known via a statement issued by its General Secretary, Barr. Joseph Bade Daramola, on Thursday.
The presence of some clerics at the unveiling of the ruling party’s vice-presidential candidate has since been eliciting reactions from Nigerians.
Reacting to the reports that the Bishops were hired, the presidential candidate of the APC, Bola Tinubu, said the clerics at the unveiling of his running mate for the 2023 presidential election were not fake “as the purveyors of hatred have made Nigerians to believe in the social media”.
Tinubu, in a statement issued by the Director General of his campaign organisation, Bayo Onanuga, said the event held at Shehu Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja was an open affair, which allowed the general public to attend, including the clerics and others.
However, CAN, in the statement issued on Thursday, warned politicians in the country to stop impersonating the association.
READ ALSO: Tinubu: I didn’t hire carpenters, mechanics, yam sellers as clerics
It said: “We are shocked, disappointed and worried about the desperation of some politicians who once claimed Christians do not matter in governance and politics who went to hire some unknown ‘bishops, pastors and priests’ to impersonate the leadership of CAN in their political meeting.
“This is totally unacceptable, reprehensible, unprecedented and ungodly. If they are saying Christians have no electoral values why impersonating them in their meetings?
“We are throwing their principals and sponsors into the court of conscience. These actions of theirs have shown who they are to the public and what they are capable of doing to us all.
“We are asking political parties not to ignore religious sensibilities and sensibilities of the people especially in today’s Nigeria when Christians are becoming endangered species daily.
“Our quest is within the constitutional requirements and ignoring it is akin to trampling on the Constitution especially the Federal Character Act,” CAN stated.
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